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Manual photography cheat sheet

Antonio Leanza is the owner of The London School of Photography. We’re delighted he has allowed us to share London School of Photography’s Manual Photography Cheat Sheet.

The “Manual Photography Cheat Sheet” shows you how to up your photography game from automatic to manual shooting.

Shooting in manual helps you create sharp, well composed photography, and gives you a deeper understanding of the inner workings of your camera.

While it is convenient to shoot in automatic mode, it can be a serious disadvantage in extreme lighting and weather conditions. These often activate your inner cameras’ flash at the smallest hint of darkness (making some photos appear positively awful).

Learning to shoot in manual mode can be a life saver.

When you start shooting in manual mode, your camera settings will not adjust to your surrounding conditions – you have to adjust them, manually.

While the process of changing your settings to match the ever-changing conditions may sound tedious, this process will keep your images consistent and looking amazing whatever the weather or lighting might throw at you.

The photographic terminology below may seem overwhelming, however, it busts some of the most key phrases used in the world of photography.

Whether you’re a novice or pro-amateur, we talk you through a variety of basic to advanced settings in order for you to achieve the effects you desire.

We’re also including the ‘golden rules’ of photography which you should keep at the back of your mind with every photo you take.